(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioner Zhang Dezhen, a 38-year-old woman, was a biology teacher in the Sixth (Jiuzai) Middle School of Mengyin County, Shandong Province. In January 2000, she was illegally detained for more than two months by Mengyin Police Department because she appealed in Beijing. While in detention, the Jiuzai Township government asked a few hoodlumso beat and torture her brutally. The hoodlums even forced her to sit outside in the snow while she was menstruating.

At the end of December 2000, Zhang Dezhen went to Beijing again to appeal. After being taken back by Mengyin Police Department, she was cruelly persecuted by the officials of the "610 Office."* The main people responsible are: Li Zhiye (former Secretary of Political and Judicial Committee of Mengyin County), Lei Yancheng (Deputy Secretary of Propaganda Department of Mengyin County), Fang Simin (Deputy Chief of Armed Force Department of Mengyin County), and Xing Xianying (Deputy Director of the Women's Association).

After being illegally imprisoned in Mengyin County, placed in a 610 brainwashing class and held in Mengyin Detention Center for more than four months, Zhang Dezhen was illegally sentenced to four years in a forced labor camp in April 2001, and was sent to the Jinan Female Forced Labor Camp. After being illegally detained there for 13 days, she was released since she failed their physical exam. After returning home, a group of people led by the principal of Jiuzai Middle School continued to persecute her. Ten days after her release, she moved away home in order to avoid being illegally arrested.

Around China's National Day, October 1, 2001, a large group of Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to appeal, and all of them returned safely. Zhang Dezhen was one of them, and that was the third time she had gone to Beijing to appeal. Also in October 2001, Zhang Dezhen and fellow practitioners went to Xintai City to share experiences with local practitioners. The local police at the Xintai Xiaoxie Coalmine illegally arrested them. Soon after, they were sent to the 610 brainwashing class in Mengyin County. This time, Zhang Dezhen was held in the brainwashing class and persecuted for more than three months.

During this period, the authorities who were conducting the brainwashing class didn't allow her to bathe, refused permission for her family to visit her, and tortured her frequently. Her sister once visited her and was also illegally detained for more than a month by the "610 Office." Zhang Dezhen went on a hunger strike three times to protest the persecution by the "610 Office" of Mengyin County. The staff of Mengyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital force-fed her, and her throat was cut open during the procedure. This severely damaged Zhang Dezhen's health, rendering her unable to care for herself. When she was in critical condition, her family was called in to carry her home so the authorities could avoid responsibility for her condition.

In order to avoid further persecution from the "610 Office" of Mengyin County, Zhang Dezhen left home again after recovering slightly. Around September 20, 2002, she was arrested at Daige Township by the Mengyin Police Department, and was then illegally detained at the Mengyin Detention Center. In the Detention Center, Zhang Dezhen went on a hunger strike to protest and was again repeatedly force-fed by staff at the Mengyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

It is reported that on January 31, 2003, Zhang Dezhen, who was in a room on the third floor of the hospital, was forcibly injected some type of drug [from other's experiences it was know that after receiving this type of injection, it would make the person begin to feel hot and thirsty. With a small dose, one would feel very hungry or thirsty. A large dose would lead to breathing difficulties and heart failure] by the officials of the "610 Office" of Mengyin County, Dr. Wang Xiaochun of Mengyin Detention Center, and doctors from the Mengyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Later, Zhang Dezhen died. Due to hunger strike and torture, Zhang Dezhen was extremely weak already. She was administered a large dose of the drug, causing heart failure. However, the officials of the "610 Office" spread the story that Zhang Dezhen's death was caused by heart disease, aiming to deceive the public and evade their responsibilities.

The main parties responsible for the murders of Dafa practitioners Zhang Dezhen and Liu Shufen are: Lei Yancheng, staff member of the Mengyin "610 Office;" Guo Xingbao, Chief of Staff of Mengyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital; Sun Kehai (Tel: 0539-4273716) Chief of Detention Center of Mengyin Police Department; Dr. Wang Xiaochun of Mengyin Detention Center; and other doctors of Mengyin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

* The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.